Community-Based Research Commons^™

The Caged Bird Still Sings: The Poetics Of Peace, Sofia Diane Skavdahl

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Although poetry has been used as a method of peacemaking since Homer’s Iliad, little research, theory, or analysis has been done evaluating precisely what role poetry holds in the realms of peacemaking and conflict resolution. Poetry, along with other arts-based practices of peacemaking, is beneficial because of its ability to encourage personal autonomy and emotional communication, while offering an open and creative space to heal from violent conflict. In terms of the arts, poetry is especially unique because it holds the ability to transform relationships between adversaries and the relationship with the self. This paper seeks to analyze both ...

Intergenerational Differences In Income Among Asian Americans, Siqi Chen

Sociology Senior Seminar Papers

Using three generational cohorts, this paper compares the effects of generational status on earnings among seven Asian ethnic groups: Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and multi-race. Data from the 2014, 2016, and 2018 Current Population Survey were used to investigate income differences between first, second, and third and higher generations of Asian Americans. Total personal incomes of a sample of 16,521 individuals were analyzed. The findings showed that only Chinese, Filipino, and Korean individuals demonstrate income differences between first and second generations, where those who are second generation have higher incomes on the average than those who are ...

Becoming A Master Manager: An Analysis Of Snap Recipient Stories Of Navigating Government Assistance, Kallie Gay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines experiences of utilizing government assistance in the United States. It focuses on the ways in which persons participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) communicatively managed their lives in relation to their role in the program. Specifically, the research reveals that SNAP recipients are master managers. After synthesizing the pre-existing body of research concerning social assistance in the U.S. and its effects on those who utilize it, the author argues that sharing the stories of marginalized groups can serve to reduce stigma surrounding government assistance participation. Employing a Feminist Standpoint Theory sensibility to elicit such ...

A Practical Resource For The Social Sciences: A Book Review Of Bruce Friedman’S The Research Toolkit - Problem Solving Processes For The Social Sciences, Sarah E. Faubert

The Qualitative Report

Bruce D. Friedman provides an invaluable resource for social science researchers and practitioners to add to their “toolkit.” This book provides practical and straightforward guidance for understanding and conducting qualitative and quantitative research. As a social science researcher, sessional instructor, and doctoral student, reading this book answered important questions I had regarding the research process and implications of social science research. This review will discuss the primary tenets of the book as well as the relevance of this toolkit for student-researchers.

Multiple And Intersecting Experiences Of Women In Prostitution: Improving Access To Helping Services, Kathryn Hodges, Sarah Burch

Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence

When women involved in prostitution experience multiple and intersecting needs, they may face barriers in accessing help and support. These barriers can include geographical location and opening hours of agencies, limited childcare support, and a lack of female-only provision. As a result, women are frequently disadvantaged, and their personal safety put at risk, as they become increasingly vulnerable to exploitation, particularly if they do not have access to secure accommodation. This research project seeks to understand the choices and decisions women make when they engage with helping services. The findings report on an in-depth qualitative study with 11 women involved ...

"I Assumed Chicago Would Be In The Forefront": Comments On The Movement To End Prostitution With Survivor-Leader Brenda Myers-Powell, Jody Raphael

Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence

For many years in the 2000’s, researcher Jody Raphael, teamed with prostitution-survivor Brenda Myers-Powell, undertook a myriad of speaking engagements in the Chicago metropolitan area, intended to raise awareness of the violence and coercion in the sex trade industry. Ten years ago, they were asked to make a video of their presentation. Recently, Dignity editors came across the video and asked for an update on the conversation. This piece is the result.

Engaging Emergency Department Patients In The Creation Of A Shared Decision-­Making Tool Regarding Ct Scanning In Kidney Stones: Challenges To Traditional Stakeholder Engagement, Elizabeth M. Schoenfeld, Connor J. Houghton, Pooja P. Patel, Leonora Merwin, Kathleen M. Mazor, Erik Hess, Charles Scales, Maggie Breslin, Peter K. Lindenauer

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

Background: Every year approximately 2 million patients are seen in US EDs for suspected renal colic, and the majority receive CT scans. The objective of our study was to develop a stakeholder-informed conversation aid to help clinicians use SDM regarding CT scanning in patients with suspected renal colic.

Methods: Using a published decision aid development framework, and under the direction of a multi-disciplinary Steering Committee, we engaged a diverse set of stakeholders via qualitative methods. EM clinicians, urologists, radiologists, researchers, and emergency department patients participated in focus groups and semi-structured interviews. All groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed in an ...

Stakeholder Engagement Through Participatory Action Research At Isparc, Amanda Costa, Melissa L. Anderson, Deirdre G. Logan, Celine Larkin

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

The Implementation Science & Practice-based Advances Research Center (iSPARC) is a new DMH-funded collaborative effort between the former Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center, Quantitative Health Sciences and Boston University's Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation. With 52 core and affiliate investigators, iSPARC features five interacting programs: Stakeholder Engagement, Public Mental Health and Implementation Research, Technical Assistance and Consultation, Workforce Development, and External Funding. The mission of the Stakeholder Engagement Program is to lead the mental health research community and beyond in working in partnership with individuals with lived mental health experience, their families, and the agencies that serve them. This program ...

The All Of Us Research Program: Engaging The Community For The Future Of Health, Mara M. Epstein, Kathleen M. Mazor, Joann L. Wagner, Peggy Preusse, Candace Leblanc, Brenda Valenti, Lawrence D. Garber

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

The All of Us Research Program (AoURP), funded by the National Institutes of Health, is an ambitious ten-year effort to enroll over one million participants across the country. The AoURP is a key part of the Precision Medicine Initiative and seeks to build a national cohort collecting self-reported health data, medical record data, biospecimen samples and physical measurements to accelerate precision medicine. Precision Medicine is an emerging approach for healthcare treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person. Researchers at the Meyers Primary Care Institute and the University of Massachusetts Medical ...

Next Steps From A School Gardening Partnership Conference (Ages: Academic Gardening To Enrich Our Students): Expanding The Impact Of School Gardens Through Higher Education, K-12 School And Community Coalitions, Martha Assefa, Pat Barnosky, Michelle Beaulieu, Amy Borg, Casey Burns, Marguerite Cawley, Jennifer De Jordy, Daina Harvey, Kelsey Hopkins, Sue Hunt, Joanne Jaber Gauvin, Isabelle Jenkins, Eliza Lawrence, Anna Marinescu, Mackenzie May, Gina Plata-Nino, Grace Sliwoski, Adam Saltsman

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

Research suggests that there are many benefits of school gardens for students, teachers and community. Not only can they help children eat more fruits and vegetables and be more physically active, they can help to create learning opportunities and increase teacher satisfaction. In Worcester, Massachusetts, a city with high poverty and food insecurity rates, a broad community coalition formed to brainstorm novel implementation models to improve the use and sustainability of school gardens. The group decided to foster new collaborations among higher education, K-12 schools and community organizations. The innovative idea was that higher education could meet their need for ...

Researcher Trauma In Dangerous Places: Navigating Peril In Physical And Psychological Milieux, Robin A. Robinson, Ariana Markowitz

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

Many community-engaged research studies in health and allied health conclude that challenges to individual and public health are mediated by trauma in any of its forms. Researchers who investigate such challenges - e.g., interpersonal violence, sexual abuses and assaults, addictions - may well acquire a traumagenic burden from their research partners, subjects and/or the community milieux in which they conduct their studies, resulting in acute trauma and/or vicarious traumatization (VT). This poster summarizes the content and interactions of a recent workshop on researcher trauma that explored psychodynamics of VT in a translational approach that shows: 1) implications for principal ...

Community Engaged Research Academy At The University Of Massachusetts Dartmouth: Reflections, Visions, And Plans, Robin A. Robinson, Mary Hensel

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

The Community Engaged Research (CER) Academy at UMass Dartmouth began in 2015 to develop and support dynamic research efforts, in partnerships with community organizations, agencies, and public services, with the goal of seeking external funding to support substantial CER projects. Its primary aim is to engage research-active faculty who are working, specifically, with community partners in the UMass Dartmouth catchment area. Further, the CER Academy actively seeks to build a community of like-minded scholars in interactive, supportive, and didactic processes. The coordinator of the CER Initiative facilitates modules, with activities designed to mentor CER Academy scholars during and after their ...

Decreasing Social Isolation In Adults Via A Cognitive Wellness Program, Lisa Yauch-Cadden, Kari Star, Paula Shiner

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

In October 2015, Buzzards Bay Speech Therapy and Coastline Elderly Services, Inc, collaborated to address concerns regarding healthy aging in New Bedford. According to the 2014 Massachusetts Healthy Aging Data Report, New Bedford scored lowest in the state with regard to healthy aging, with 31 health indicators worse than the state average, including depression, mental illness, stroke and Alzheimer's disease. Recognizing that these indicators can lead to social isolation and further exacerbate health concerns, we developed a program focusing on cognitive wellness in order to enhance social engagement. The goal of the program is to provide evidenced based interventions ...

Healthy Bodegas: Bringing The Community Together To Eat Healthier, Laura N. Amweg, Laura Hayman

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence rates have remained stable in the United States (U.S.) the past 30 years, however, there has been a significant increase in CRC incidence among the millennial generation. The association between the Western diet and CRC, and racial and gender disparities in CRC is well-established. Public health and community efforts are needed to address barriers to healthy nutrition in this population. One identified barrier is food access in lower-income communities, sometimes called "food deserts." Local stores, or "bodegas," have potential to increase access to healthy affordable foods and contribute to risk reduction for the development ...

An Assessment Of Current Resources To Help Adolescents Quit Vaping, Karen Del'olio, Nanette Vitali, Lori Pbert

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

Background: E-cigarette use, more commonly known as vaping to our youth, has been a growing epidemic with adolescents in the United States. The recent advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General emphasizes that we must act now to protect the health of our nation’s youth from a lifetime of nicotine addiction. According to a recent 2018 Center for Disease Control MMWR article , more than 3 million high school students (grades 9 – 12) and 570,000 middle school students (grades 6 – 8) in the United States are currently vaping; defined as ≥ 1 e-cigarette in the past 30 days. Researchers from ...

Perceptions On The Opioid Epidemic: A Qualitative Study, Rebecca Leach, Brittany Chapman, Ailish Hanly, Stephanie Carreiro

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

Background: Opioid use disorder (OUD) and resultant opioid overdoses have amplified over the last 20 years, despite efforts to identify best practices for treatment. Little research has focused on the disconnect between individuals with OUD and their healthcare providers.

Hypothesis: We hypothesize that discrepancies exist between individuals with OUD and their healthcare providers with respect to perceptions of and experiences with medical care, the opioid antidote naloxone, and current treatment paradigms. Highlighting these discrepancies will inform future healthcare models.

Methods: Using electronic surveys and semi-structured interviews, we will collect qualitative data from both individuals with OUD and emergency providers to ...

Religiosity And Patient Engagement In Their Healthcare Among Hospital Survivors Of An Acute Coronary Syndrome, Hawa Ozien Abu, David D. Mcmanus, Catarina I. Kiefe, Robert J. Goldberg

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

Background: Optimum management after an Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) requires considerable patient engagement/activation. Religious practices permeate people's lives and may influence engagement in their healthcare. Little is known about the relationship between religiosity and patient activation in hospital survivors of an ACS.

Methods: We recruited patients hospitalized for an ACS at six medical centers in Central Massachusetts and Georgia (2011-2013). Participants self-reported three measures of religiosity - strength and comfort from religion, making petition prayers, and awareness of intercessory prayers for health. Patient activation was assessed using the 6-item Patient Activation Measure (PAM-6). We categorized participants as either having ...

Optimizing Learner Accessibility: Adding American Sign Language (Asl) And Text-To-Speech To Online Trainings, Sarah Rulnick, John Rochford, Derek Chaves, Benjamin Amankwata, Viet Do, Mabelys Rodriguez

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

The Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) Training Program is located at the Eunice K. Shriver Center at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA. The CANS Training Program provides training and certification services for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS), MassHealth, Children's Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI). Massachusetts behavioral health providers are required to be CANS certified in order to see Medicaid insured children and youth under the age of 21. The CANS Training Program has trained and certified over 26,000 behavioral health providers throughout Massachusetts in the use of the Child ...

Women-Reported Barriers And Facilitators Of Adherence To Medications For Opioid Use Disorder, Alice Fiddian-Green, Aline C. Gubrium, Calla Harrington, Elizabeth Evans

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

AIM: A poorly understood challenge is why many women with opioid use disorder do not remain engaged with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD; e.g., methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone) long enough to achieve sustained benefits. We aimed to identify barriers and facilitators that impact women's MOUD adherence.

METHODS: We conducted in-person interviews and focus groups with 20 women who had received MOUD for at least 90 days in Springfield and Holyoke, Massachusetts in 2018. Using grounded theory, we inductively identified major themes and selected illustrative quotations.

FINDINGS: Gender-specific barriers to treatment are shaped by MOUD-related stigma stemming from multiple ...

Addressing Bias In Lgbtqia+ Undergraduate Medical Education: An Innovative And Community Based Approach To Curriculum Reform, John-Marc Austin, Anthony Foscolos, Nancy Bennet, Jeroan J. Allison, John Trobaugh

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

Background: Individuals who are LGBTQIA+ or gender nonconforming have specific health needs and face health disparities that are exacerbated by a lack of training and cultural sensitivity among health professionals. This study was initiated by a second year University of Massachusetts School of Medicine student in response to the lack of LGBTQIA+ health content in the first year Doctoring & Clinical Skills (DCS1) course. The DCS1 session on collecting a sexual history was selected as the primary focus for revision. Community-Based Participatory Research, because of its emphasis on joining with a community of interest as full and equal partners in all ...

Building Capacity In Health Disparities Research, Mona Fouad

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

Mona Fouad, MD, MPH is Professor of Medicine, Director of the Division of Preventive Medicine, and Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in the School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Founding Director of the UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center. She is recognized nationally as a leader in health disparities research and served as a member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities from 2008-2012. In 2017, Dr. Fouad was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine. She obtained her MD ...

Communities For Healthy Living: A Holistic Approach To Engaging Head Start Families To Improve Health Outcomes, Alyssa Aftosmes-Tobio, Kindra Lansburg

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

The Communities for Healthy Living (CHL) project is a five year, pragmatic intervention trial to reduce and prevent childhood obesity among low-income preschoolers in the Greater Boston area. This workshop will demonstrate the successes and challenges of engaging parents as participants and leaders of a participatory intervention to prevent childhood obesity. Key lessons learned; give insight on how staff and parents were engaged from the outset; and what this type of program can offer diverse groups of parents.

With a particular focus on the participatory nature of our work, we will describe the stages of our trial and discuss the ...

Engaging African Immigrants In Addressing Hiv Disparities Within The Population, Lorraine Anyango, Mbita Mbao, Dara Oloyede

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

The Tulumbe! Partnership was created with funds from the Pipeline to Proposal (P2P) awards established by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The P2P awards were designed to develop partnerships; promote patient engagement; and build patient-led research proposals. Tulumbe! has spent the last two years working to engage the African immigrant community in addressing issues related to HIV, specifically focusing on identifying research topics and questions 3 that are important to community members. There are currently 10 core members representing health providers, African immigrants living with HIV, advocates, researchers and community leaders.

Tulumbe! has utilized various approaches to engage African ...

Infant Mortality: A Community Engagement Model, Sara G. Shields, Cathy Violette, Tasmina Hydery, Heather J. Alker

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

The Worcester Healthy Baby Collaborative (WHBC) consists of a group of volunteers from organizations with an interest in reducing infant mortality in Worcester, including representatives from UMass Memorial, Family Health Center of Worcester, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and the March of Dimes. The organization originally began as the Worcester Infant Mortality Reduction Task Force in the mid-1990s in order to examine trends in Worcester's infant mortality rate (IMR). This work has continued, evolving in response to changes in both the needs and desires of the local community, and has come to encompass several intervention and reduction strategies ...

Building Sustainability In Times Of Uncertainty, Matthew Sadof

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

Obama era grants were filled with the hopes of developing and implementing measures to improve healthcare delivery. Springfield Pediatrician Matt Sadof will present his experience as one of the Principal Investigators for the Massachusetts Alliance for Coordinated Care, a care coordination for children with medical complexity and social fragility funded by Center for Medicaid and Medicare Innovation at two urban centers in Massachusetts Baystate Children’s Hospital and Boston University Medical Center. As a consultative program it supported improved communication between primary care providers and specialists at two geographic locations across the state. Relying on an ambulatory ICU (complex care ...

Speaker Biographies: 2019 Community Engagement And Research Symposium, Community Engagement And Research Symposium

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

Biographies of all the speakers at the 8th annual Community Engagement and Research Symposium, held Friday, March 22, 2019 at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA.

Poster Session: 2019 Community Engagement And Research Symposium, Community Engagement And Research Symposium

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

Abstracts of posters presented at the 8th annual Community Engagement and Research Symposium, held Friday, March 22, 2019, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA.

Some presenters have made the full text of their posters available; these posters can be viewed in the symposium's Poster Archive.

Keynote And Breakout Session Descriptions: 2019 Community Engagement And Research Symposium, Community Engagement And Research Symposium

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

Descriptions of Keynote and Breakout Sessions for the 8th annual Community Engagement and Research Symposium, held Friday, March 22, 2019, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA.

Agenda: 2019 Community Engagement And Research Symposium, Community Engagement And Research Symposium

Community Engagement and Research Symposia

Agenda for the 8th annual Community Engagement and Research Symposium, held Friday, March 22, 2019 at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA.

Moving Towards An Indigenous Research Process: A Reflexive Approach To Empirical Work With First Nations Communities In Canada, Elaine Toombs, Alexandra S. Drawson, Lori Chambers, Tina L. R. Bobinski, John Dixon, Christopher J. Mushquash

The International Indigenous Policy Journal

Moving towards reconciliation within Indigenous research requires the careful examination of existing practices at all stages of the research process. Engagement in and dissemination of reflexive processes may increase the relevance of research results for Indigenous communities and partners. This article describes and contextualizes the results obtained from this qualitative research study examining parenting needs and child reunification in these communities. The initial results were deemed relevant by the partnering community but research stakeholders reported that they did not reflect all community values. Based on the advice of the Research Advisory Group, the research team decided to further analyze the ...